ripe old age

ripe old age

ripe old age

An age advanced in years, as in I expect to live to a ripe old age. The adjective ripe here means "fully developed physically and mentally," but the current use of the idiom usually just signifies a long lifespan. [Second half of 1300s]

By the time you reached year nine (that's third year in old money) you'd discovered the little girl who had apparently plunged to her death down the staircase and haunted the place ever since had in fact lived to a ripe old age and died comfortably in her bed at home.

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